Chicago April 4th, 7:30 PM

Not much for me to add about this game itself...a real stinker. We all know that the Pistons don't usually play anywhere near this badly, but the depressing thing is that getting blown out at home is generally considered one of the dividing lines between 'ship-caliber and not-quite-good enough teams. Having a top-notch road record, which the Pistons do possess, is one good indication of a team's ability to win it all, but embarrassing yourselves like this in your own house is not something that can easily be written off.

Not much for me to add about this game itself...a real stinker. We all know that the Pistons don't usually play anywhere near this badly, but the depressing thing is that getting blown out at home is generally considered one of the dividing lines between 'ship-caliber and not-quite-good enough teams. Having a top-notch road record, which the Pistons do possess, is one good indication of a team's ability to win it all, but embarrassing yourselves like this in your own house is not something that can easily be written off.

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Well, you have a coach who could care less if his starters are playing badly, especially on D. Why should they play D if the coach is going to leave them in anyway? Flip will not make adjustments. Perhaps he does not care about this game as much as saving all the good stuff for the playoffs. Also, this team is banged up and tired. Many coming off the flu. Flip Saunders is clueless if he thinks missing games from the flu is somehow rest for the player. No, having the flu is a horrid experience. It cuts off your breathing. Nobody gets rest from barely being able to breathe. Of course, Flip will turn around and avoid all guilt, pointing to the trainer to track minutes. Sorry, its the coaches responsibility to know his players, and know when they are tired. Flip lost this one in the 2nd quarter when he took a couple of subs out to put two starters back in. At that point it was a tie game pretty much. Disaster followed that move soon enough. No way this game is an indication of how good the Pistons can do in the playoffs, but it is exactly what will happen if Flip Suanders does not rest his starters this last bit of the season.

I agree, it wasn't a good game by 'Stones. However, I think it is important to get away from ups and downs of regular season. Sure, we can fret over an ugly loss, but I think in the end what matters is the playoffs. Lets not pass any judgment on this team until they play some meaningful games. Look at last year's Miami. They lumbered through the regular season and ended up winning it all. I am not predicting anything for the playoffs, I just don't know. I guess we'll see what happens.

Tyrus Thomas with 13 points and 8 rebounds (5 offensive) in only 10 minutes!!! and he was literally sick... as in flu.

I watch a lot of Bulls games here in Chicago, and it is incredible what a difference he is making in the last month.

I know it won't happen, but Amir does look like a similar player from what I have seen in the D-league... tall, skinny but strong, long arms, incredible hops, good nose for the ball and shock blocking instincts. Tyrus Thomas is basically playing the garbage man role on offense and protecting the paint on D. Maybe Amir could get by with that until the rest of his game gets "NBA ready."

I still think the Bulls would have been better off with Tyson Chandler instead of Ben (even ignoring the huge salary savings they would have with TC).

I also think they should have pulled the trigger on the Gasol deal. Ben Gordon makes spectacular baskets, but they are not really necessary in most cases. There is a bit of fool's gold in him. Tonight he was non-existent and it was one of the Bulls better games.

I just spent like 15 minutes writing a beautiful entry only to have my computer tell me it has encountered an error. It's true what they say, to err is human, to really screw up, it takes a computer.

Anway, this is basically what I had to say:

The optimistic side of me says to just disregard this game. It was, as the French would say, "le crap." But I refuse to take it for more than what it is: 1 game in a series of 4, in a season of 82. Granted, the first game verse the Bulls Detroit lost by like 15. But we were without Chauncey and it was played pre-Webber. And I'm not sure what somebody was thinking when they said something about Rip not being able to play well against the Bulls, he did drop 27 on them in that first meeting (of course, he was getting to the free throw line a lot more in those days), and scored 22 in the win at the Palace. The middle two games were decided by 2 points. The defeat was again played without two starters, Chris and Rip. And then there was this game...Really isn't much to say. I mean, you had the Pistons, a, for lack of a better word, unenergized team, playing against the complete opposite: a team that looked to push the ball and one that is fighting for the second seed in the East. And while the Bulls beat us up pretty badly on the boards, I'm not willing to credit their scrappy (yet effective) defense for the Pistons shooting woes. There were so many missed layups and floaters and other point-blank shots as well as open jumpers that I can't help but believe this was just one of those nights where things didn't go right for the Pistons.

As far as the coaching is concerned, I will shy away from comment as I am not any where near savvy enough to venture into it. I will only say that I believe it is too easy to blame the coach. When we won 64 games last year, nobody was complaining about the way Coach Flip Saunders was running things. But we lose the 8th to last game of the season, and one on the tail-end of a back-to-back, and suddenly the man is on trial. But again, I know nothing about coaching...

All in all I am no more concerned about our run in the playoffs as I was before this game took place. I think what this whole discussion really comes down to is that us fans wanted the win more than the players did.

Chauncey Billups on tonight's game: “You play like that, a team beats you like that at home, all you can do is get over it. You can’t let it linger and can’t let it affect you in your next outing.”

The Pistons need to develop their HCA, and they have to do it quick. It is great that they can win on the road, but they have to make teams scared to come to the Palace. That has not been the case this season.

Just when you think the pistons got it together. Just when you think all the parts are meshing well. Just when you think the finals are wrapped up. Now who the hell gets paid for thinking??

That game hurt me a lot. I try to pretend that it didn't bother me as i yelled at the kids for whispering too loudly, among other silly little things. Why is this team so bad at home?? One question on my mind is, who needs ben?? I am suppose to be moving on. Wake up, Ben is not coming back.

So what about this game bothers me, you say??

1. Ben was not playing and they played better.
2. Chicago has beat us 3 times this season.
3. Chicago is in the same conference.
4. Billups got burned by Hinrich over and over again.
5. We will see them in the playoffs.

I agree, it wasn't a good game by 'Stones. However, I think it is important to get away from ups and downs of regular season. Sure, we can fret over an ugly loss, but I think in the end what matters is the playoffs. Lets not pass any judgment on this team until they play some meaningful games. Look at last year's Miami. They lumbered through the regular season and ended up winning it all. I am not predicting anything for the playoffs, I just don't know. I guess we'll see what happens.

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So true....look at last year. The Pistons dominated the Bulls and the Cavs. The Cavs almost beat the pistons last year. This was a bad loss, but I do not know if it is an indicator of bad things to come. We just have to wait for the playoffs.

Tyrus Thomas with 13 points and 8 rebounds (5 offensive) in only 10 minutes!!! and he was literally sick... as in flu.

I watch a lot of Bulls games here in Chicago, and it is incredible what a difference he is making in the last month.

I know it won't happen, but Amir does look like a similar player from what I have seen in the D-league... tall, skinny but strong, long arms, incredible hops, good nose for the ball and shock blocking instincts. Tyrus Thomas is basically playing the garbage man role on offense and protecting the paint on D. Maybe Amir could get by with that until the rest of his game gets "NBA ready."

I still think the Bulls would have been better off with Tyson Chandler instead of Ben (even ignoring the huge salary savings they would have with TC).

I also think they should have pulled the trigger on the Gasol deal. Ben Gordon makes spectacular baskets, but they are not really necessary in most cases. There is a bit of fool's gold in him. Tonight he was non-existent and it was one of the Bulls better games.

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Skiles has trouble handling players. He had Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler and Elton Brand. I think Skiles has issues.

You could see the energy drain out of the Pistons as Hinrich kept hitting the jumpers and we kept blowing layups. I think there is a huge fatalist component to this team. They see these things a signs that the fates are against them and they have no chance. When one of our guys get hot they think the fates are with us and the confidence of the whole team rises. This is the same thing that killed us in the playoffs last year. It is so important for them to get off to a good start in the first and third quarters. They should purposely start each quarter going for easy shots to build there confidence and stay away from the 20 footers until they feel confident.

I dunno guys... I think it's less about what the Pistons didn't do and more about the matchups....it looked like that team is so much quicker than ours. They are quicker at every position (Rip may have a slight edge)... Chauncey, Cwebb, Sheed and co. simply couldn't keep up... it's easy for them to break down our perimeter and get to our 2nd & 3rd line of defense.... they are now mature enough to make the extra pass inside.
Of course the Bulls hot shooting forced us to respect the outside game... which created some lanes inside.... wasn't this the team that couldn't score in the paint?

IMO, the Bulls wasted a lot of cap room signing Ben... not that Ben isn't good... but Ty Thomas gives them a similar game with a little more offense.

We're heavy on slow vet experience and soft on athletes (minus Amir & Rip).... IMO the Pistons have a tough time when they are forced to speed up their individual games.

I just spent like 15 minutes writing a beautiful entry only to have my computer tell me it has encountered an error. It's true what they say, to err is human, to really screw up, it takes a computer.

Anway, this is basically what I had to say:

The optimistic side of me says to just disregard this game. It was, as the French would say, "le crap." But I refuse to take it for more than what it is: 1 game in a series of 4, in a season of 82. Granted, the first game verse the Bulls Detroit lost by like 15. But we were without Chauncey and it was played pre-Webber. And I'm not sure what somebody was thinking when they said something about Rip not being able to play well against the Bulls, he did drop 27 on them in that first meeting (of course, he was getting to the free throw line a lot more in those days), and scored 22 in the win at the Palace. The middle two games were decided by 2 points. The defeat was again played without two starters, Chris and Rip. And then there was this game...Really isn't much to say. I mean, you had the Pistons, a, for lack of a better word, unenergized team, playing against the complete opposite: a team that looked to push the ball and one that is fighting for the second seed in the East. And while the Bulls beat us up pretty badly on the boards, I'm not willing to credit their scrappy (yet effective) defense for the Pistons shooting woes. There were so many missed layups and floaters and other point-blank shots as well as open jumpers that I can't help but believe this was just one of those nights where things didn't go right for the Pistons.

As far as the coaching is concerned, I will shy away from comment as I am not any where near savvy enough to venture into it. I will only say that I believe it is too easy to blame the coach. When we won 64 games last year, nobody was complaining about the way Coach Flip Saunders was running things. But we lose the 8th to last game of the season, and one on the tail-end of a back-to-back, and suddenly the man is on trial. But again, I know nothing about coaching...

All in all I am no more concerned about our run in the playoffs as I was before this game took place. I think what this whole discussion really comes down to is that us fans wanted the win more than the players did.

Chauncey Billups on tonight's game: “You play like that, a team beats you like that at home, all you can do is get over it. You can’t let it linger and can’t let it affect you in your next outing.”

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You stated nobody complained. Maybe you did not know me then. I complained all year long. Overplaying the starters. Chopping down the rotation. No time at all for Amir nor Maxiell. Etc. The regular season is all about getting the team ready, not how many wins you get-as long as you do win enough to get into the playoffs.

IMO, the Bulls wasted a lot of cap room signing Ben... not that Ben isn't good... but Ty Thomas gives them a similar game with a little more offense.

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Here's the thing. The Bulls are paying Ben Wallace $16 Million this year!!!

That is more than they are paying for Hinrich, Deng, Gordon, Nocioni, and Thomas COMBINED. That is just unreal.

Of course, those salaries will go up when the different contract expire... but, they could have kept Tyson Chandler for about $9Mill/ year and saved $7M/ year by having TC instead of Ben. That $7M could have been put to good use in the next few seasons.

And what has Tyson done since he left? He's basically broken out and had a career season... almost averaging a double-double while becoming the 2nd best rebounder in the league.

Unless Ben does something in the Playoffs that he doesn't for them during the regular season, I don't see how you can say this deal worked out well for the Bulls. They got bamboozled.